Cane mill



April 1929- w. L. BE'ALL 1,709,552

CANE MILL Filed Aug.l'7. 192s Invenfior. ZUL'ZZLam/Lfleaa',

Patented Apr. 16, 192 9.

UNITED STATES 1,709,552 PATENT'OFF ICE.

WILLIAM L. BEALL, OF CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CANE MILL.

Application filed August 17, 1925. Serial No. 50,539.

This invention relates to crushing mills and particularly to cane mills having a nest of crushing rollers between which the stalks are guided and fed, to extract the juice therefrom. i

It is the main object to provide in such a machine an arrangement of crushing rollers so constructed that they will properly receive and feed the stalks in a manner, best conducive to the attainment of a maximum extraction of juice.

' accomplished in theprovision of a cane mill,

as hereinafter disclosed, having a body in which is mounted a plurality of shafts, each of which carriesv a roller. One roller isa main or primary roller and cooperable therewith is a secondary roller between which the stalks are fed. A finishing roller also cooperates with the primary roller. The primary roller has its surface provided with spiral grooves or corrugations pitched in one direction while the finishing roller has the same surface grooves, but pitched in an op posite direction.- The secondary roller is provided with fluted portions arranged substantially at right angles to the grooves on the main roller, the latter having flanges so that the secondary roller may operate therebetween. Cooperating raised portions on the stationary guide member and secondary roller are also provided. All of these features combinc to make an efficientcrushing mill because the stalks 'areproperly fed and guided while being crushed.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings, wherein like characters of reference denote like parts, and wherein the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the mill with that part of the body or housing nearest the observer removed. The finishing roller also has been removed;

- with the relatively stationary guide member,

as viewed along line 4-4 of Fig. 2,- looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to thesheet of drawings, there is shown a cane crushing mill having a body? or frame in which is suitably journailed a vertically disposed shaft 11, which carries thereon a primary ormain feeding and crushing roller 12, the shaft carrying fixed therewith above the roller 12a gear 13. The body also carries a vertical shaft 14 rotatably'journaled therein, upon which is carried a secondary or supplementary-feed roller 15 of a diameter considerably smaller than the diameter of the main feeding roller. Adjacent the shaft 14 there is ournaled'a similar shaft 16 in the body of the mill, and thislast mentioned shaft carries a finishing roller 17 of substantially the same diameter as the secondary roller. The upper end of the shaft 14 is provided with a gear 18 meshing with the gear13, and the shaft 16 is provided at its upper end with 'a similar gear, not shown, so that rotation 'of the shaft 11 may be imparted to the shaft 14 and the shaft 16 from the gear 13,v as will be obvious. The rollers 15and 17, as shown in Fig. 2, are slightly spaced apart and receive between them a vertically disposed, relatively stationary guide member 19, which has upper and lower projections 20 and 21 loosely fitted into apertures in-the upper and lower parts of the body or frame 10. The guide has a concave surface, as shown in Fig. 2, which is slightly spaced from and concentric with the main. feeding roller 12. f V

This disposition of three rollers'and a guide member, so far described, is quite conventional in this art. *Applicant has, however, improved upon the construction ofthese, rollers to the end that they cooperate in a more efficient manner to crush cane stalks and extract'juice therefrom. Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, itwill be. seen thatv the large, main roller 12 has on its sides, flanges 22, and that the surface of the roller is provided with fine corrugations'inthe form of spiral grooves,

ends. These =fluted portions 23 are formed by cutting out or dishing out the surface of the roller, and it has been found that the high portions of these fluted-portions firmly grip a stalk of cane when itis fed between this roller and the anain'roller and feed the same into the machine without breaking the stalk. It will be noted that these fluted portions are disposed substantially at right angles with .respect to the spiral grooves on the main roller 12 and also that the roller 15 in its cooperation with the -rol1er12 operates between the -flanges 22of said roller 12.

Looking now to the roller 17, it will be observed that it also cooperates with the roller .12 and that it too# has its surface provided .w ith fine corrugations, or spiral grooves,

similar tothose on the surface ofthe roller 12, but'that these spiralgrooves are pitched in an opposite direction from those on theroller 12.

Thisis an-important featureof the invention, for, it will readily be appreciated (Fig. 2), 'thatasthe stalk of cane-is fed between the main roller and the supplementary roller it is guidedby the guide 19 between the main roller and the finishing roller 17, where the oppositely pitched, grooved surfaces function to oppose each other in feeding the bagasse in=a spread condition across the center ofboth rollers, thus overcoming any possibility-that the :bagassemightspread over the edge of the rollersand wind aroundthe shaft 16. Going back to the supplementary feed or fluted roller 15, the raised portions 24 also serve properlyto guide the incoming stalks toward the center, as the stalks cannot readily pass upwardly or downwardly: beyond the raised portions 24 formedlbyclosing the ends of the fluted portions:28,arid in this instance also preventing the possibility of the crushed stalk passing over theendsof the .roller and winding around the endsofthe shaft 14.

The guide 19 also embodies improved'features, which make for eflicient operation of guidingand crushing the stalks of cane fed intothe machine. Attention in this connection is directed toFig-4, which shows the face of the-guidememberadjacent the mainfeedingrollerdepressed asat 25 with. an upraised flangeportion 26 at. each end, which cooper- .ates with the supplementary "feed roller 15,

theupraisedportions 24 ofwhich have a rolling icontact with these raised portions 26. Obviously, then, the end face of the guide 19 is slightly spaced from theifiuted portionson the roller 15. ,By this construction it is impossible for the fluted portions of the roller 15 to contact the corrugations on the main feeding roller and, therefore, neithercaninjure the other.

The construction of the feed roller 15 is .such that stopping the flutes near the end of the feed roller and having the roll smooth atthe ends asat 24, there 1s, as has been stated, a tendency of the cane to work away from the qflan es 22 of the lar 'e roll 12 as :it is being fedfhrough the mill. This illustrated in a somewhat exaggerated. manner in F ig; 3. The advantage gained by this construction of feed roll is considerably helped by the arrangement of the depressed member, orknife, as it is sometimes called, as

shown .in Fig. 4. Themill is at a disadvantage withconventional guide knife members b ecause the-cane mashes in between the ends of the feed roll 15 and the flanges of the large roll 12. The feed roll in itsoperatringposition isspaced aboutl/S or 1/4 of aninchaway from the large roll and the construction of this feed rollwith the raised orsmooth ends makes it permissible to employ a guide member that will notcatch on the corrugations or 'flutesof the roll 15. At the same time,theguide member will at all times be close enough to the feed roll throughout its entire lengthto perform its guiding function efficiently without .mashing the stalks againstthe flanges 22, as. stated.

It is to vbe understood, of course, that only the preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown and illustrated and that the same is capable of many modifications and changes without departingfrom the spirit of the invention and the scope thereof as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is: V 1. In acanemillor the like, having a body,

a main feeding roller ournaled for rotation in-thebody, a supplementary feed roller also journaled for rotation .inthebody, said supplementary roller being fluted longitudinally on its surface, said -flutes being continuous and stopping short of theendsofsaid roller.

2. In a cane mill or thelike, the combination .of abody, .a feeding roller rotatable therein of uniform diameter and provided .with depressed fluted portions which stop short of the ends of the roller to form smooth portions, and a guide member having smooth end portions, said roller raised portions bearingon and havinga rolling contactwith the raised portions of the guidemember.

In a cane mill having-a plurality of rotatable crushingmollers, one of said rollers having 1ts surface provided with continuous fluted portions parallel with theaxis of retationof'the roller, said :portions stopping short of the ends of theroller.

4. In a cane mill having a plurality of lo tatable crushing rollers, one of saidrollers having its surface provided with relatively deep, continuous fluted portions parallel with the axis of rotation of the roller, said fluted portions being closed at their ends to leave smooth marginal end surfaces for the roller.

5. In a cane mill, the combination of a main feed roller, a fluted supplemental feed roller and a finishing roller cooperating with the main roller, a stationary guide between the fluted and finishing rollers, and cooperatingflanges on the guide and fluted roller to provide a rolling contact for the fluted roller on the guide member.

6. A roller for cane mills, said roller having uninterrupted, relatively deep, fluted portions extending lengthwise thereof, said fluted portions terminating short of the ends of said roller.

7. A roller for cane mills, said roller having its surface provided with spaced, paral lel, continuous fluted portions extending lengthwise thereof, said fluted portions terminating short of the ends of said roller.

8. A roller for cane mills, said roller having smooth circumferential ends on its surface and continuous fluted portions arranged side by side in parallelism between said smooth end surfaces.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

I WILLIAM L. BEALL. 

